


Snapshots and Phone Lines

by thephilosophersapprentice



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M, Gen, ah well, implied royai - Freeform, pure tooth-rotting fluff, then politics happened, this was supposed to be just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23987716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thephilosophersapprentice/pseuds/thephilosophersapprentice
Summary: Roy wanted to officiate Ed and Winry's wedding. A missing scene/continuation from "Pictures Are Just the Stories We Hold On To" by altoinkblots.
Relationships: Edward Elric & Roy Mustang, Edward Elric & Winry Rockbell, Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell, Roy Mustang & Team Mustang
Comments: 32
Kudos: 70





	Snapshots and Phone Lines

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Pictures Are Just The Stories We Hold On To](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23977312) by [altoinkblots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/altoinkblots/pseuds/altoinkblots). 



The rumors had started just after the lunch hour and flew about like disturbed hornets.

_Did you hear? The Fullmetal Alchemist walked into the marriage license office with a girl!_

Of course Roy heard them. Even if he hadn’t had an ear to the ground (which he _always_ did; he couldn’t afford not to), he would’ve heard the rumors.

At first, he didn’t assign them any credibility. Other people were laughing them off, too. But the rumors just kept going, until finally—

“Boss!” Havoc burst into Roy’s interior office. “You’ll never believe what just happened!”

“Fullmetal’s getting married,” Roy said dryly, signing another requisition form and slipping it into the correct folder to be delivered later.

“ _Is_ married,” Havoc announced. “Heymans just ran down to the license office to confirm it. Apparently they had a quick civil ceremony and then headed out. No mention of the lucky lady’s name but we all know who that is.”

Winry Rockbell, _the_ woman in Edward’s life. It could not be anyone else. Like spring turning into summer, kittens growing into cats, it was a certainty; a fact of life.

“And they didn’t invite us,” Havoc grumbled.

Hawkeye sighed. “We can make our congratulations on their marriage later, Havoc.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Havoc still looked wistful. He was a country boy too; he clearly missed the happenings of his youth.

Roy was geniuenly happy for the young couple, but he still felt a little bit let down. He’d wanted to officiate, dammit. Though, knowing Olivier Armstrong, he would’ve had to duel her for the right to officiate the wedding, and he would have lost both the right and what was left of his pride.

Maybe it was for the best that the two had eloped, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t about to complain about it.

* * *

Ed and Winry were settling into the hotel room when someone knocked at the door. “Call for you, Mr. Elric.”

Ed turned to Winry and mouthed _Elric-_ Rockbell _, now._ He stood up, setting down the blankets he’d been spreading on the bed. He’d been meaning to call Granny, but who would’ve known to call this hotel…? “Coming!”

* * *

“Fullmetal.”

Edward sighed. “Of course it’s _you_ , General Omniscient. I’m not exactly military any more, you know.”

“Yes, I remember. I had to process the form for you to take you off of active duty.”

“Take me off active duty? Bastard, I resigned from the military.”

“Ah… yes. About that, Grumman ordered me not to let that form off my desk until I’d talked to you.”

“About what? Mustang, I’m on my _honeymoon_ , as I’m sure you’re aware.”

“Ah, yes. About that.” Mustang’s voice had taken on a near-childish tone. “How could you? I was going to officiate your wedding!”

“Are you _whining_?” Edward couldn’t think of anything else to say. Gobsmacked, that was it. All that could be said.

“As an official of the Amestrian government, I am legally permitted to officiate weddings, and you skipped the whole tradition to elope.” Yep, Mustang was definitely whining.

“You are—you _are_ whining!” Ed almost punched the air. “Al would have a field day with this. I’m telling.”

“Brat!” Mustang’s voice had risen in pitch. Edward smirked. Now they were back on familiar territory again.

“I’m on my _honeymoon_ , General Bastard. Your move.”

“If you tell Alphonse, I’m telling _Major Armstrong_. You’ll have to cope with the party when you arrive back in Central.”

Edward cursed under his breath. “Listen, this was _exactly_ why Winry and I decided to elope. We didn’t want to be the social event of the season.”

“Think of it this way, Fullmetal. This way, you don’t have to do all the hard work and planning. It will be done for you.”

Ed huffed. “I still don’t have to like it. And stop calling me ‘Fullmetal.’ I left the military years ago.”

“That’s what Grumman ordered me to talk to you about,” Mustang said. “He wants to keep funding your research.”

Edward’s mind went completely blank. “What? I can’t even do alchemy any more, Mustang.”

“It never was your ability to perform alchemy that was the real treasure, Edward.” So they were on first-name terms now? No, Ed didn’t care for that at all. “It was your mind,” Mustang continued. “You’re probably the most brilliant alchemist in Amestrian history. Grumman thinks that you’ll do a lot of good with this. He wants to give back to Amestris, and this is how he wants to do it. Are you going to let him?”

Edward leaned heavily on the counter. “I don’t _need_ —”

“Need doesn’t come into it. As far as the military is concerned, you’re an investment, and as far as Grumman is, you’re going to continue to return dividends, just more intangibly.”

“It’s a PR stunt,” Edward mumbled.

“Of course it is. That’s politics. You won’t have to go on missions any more—you’ll be your own master. A consultant, not a major. You’ve already been taken off combat status. You can work in a state lab or from home. That’s up to you. If I had my way, you’d be put in charge of overseeing the state laboratories and establishing ethical guidelines. You’d keep the state alchemist program from producing more monsters—human or otherwise.”

Ed could barely hear Mustang past the roaring in his ears. “I’d have to think about it. I’d honestly prefer to go back to Resembool.”

“Just so long as you’re thinking about it, Fullmetal.” Mustang sounded smug.

“While you’re at it, think about your own love life,” Edward sniped back. “You should really think about following Brigadier General Hughes’ advice. It’s just sad. I’m fourteen years younger than you and _I’m_ married. There has to be a special _someone_ in your life, right?”

“Shut up, brat,” Mustang growled. He slammed the phone down. Edward hung the receiver up and cackled. Mustang might have blindsided him this time but Ed wasn’t about to take that lying down. He knew the anti-fraternization rules existed for very good reasons, but that didn’t mean he could tease Mustang about his obvious _thing_ for Lieutenant—sorry, now _Captain_ —Hawkeye.

* * *

“What was that all about?” Winry asked as Edward re-entered the room and closed the door behind him.

“Mustang was whining about not getting to officiate our wedding,” Ed smirked. “Oh… yeah. And he said that Alex Louis is probably going to insist on throwing a huge party to celebrate when we get back in Central.”

Winry laughed at her husband’s ( _husband’s!_ ) grimace of chagrin. “Well, guess we’ll have to either pay the fiddler or just go back to Rush Valley instead.”

Ed burst out laughing. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.” Facing all the mechanics eager to see an example of Winry Rockbell’s famous handiwork sounded a lot less exhausting than facing Central’s high society. At least Rush Valley mechanics were eager to learn and respectful of his disability. “He also said Grumman wanted to keep me on the payroll—I’m not active duty any more and can’t be sent to the front in case of war, but they want to fund my research. No strings attached, it sounds like.”

“I know you have your reasons for wanting out,” Winry said.

“Something about being the ‘bulwark of change,’ probably,” Ed mumbled. “I’d still be a figurehead.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Winry asked. “I know you hate the spotlight, but people _like_ you, dummy. Why not just _let_ them?”

Edward gulped. He could feel himself turning red. “Mustang mentioned putting me in an oversight position… making ethics guidelines.”

“You could do a lot of good,” Winry said reasonably. “It’s still your life.”

“Shhh,” Edward said, pulling her close. “Eighty-five percent of it belongs to you.”

“Well, I think that if you want it, you should just go for it.”

“Should we call Granny and tell her?” Ed asked. He gulped. “Oops. I never asked her permission to court you…”

Winry whacked him lightly on the shoulder with her slipper. “Edward, you goof. I called her already—just before we got on the train.”

Edward sighed, relaxing slightly. “I love you.”

“Sap,” Winry teased, snuggling closer.

They didn’t say much else. They didn’t have to.

**Author's Note:**

> If Mustang had gotten the chance to officiate, Olivier would have fought him for the right to do so. And she would've won.


End file.
